Ronis, Willy

Belleville Menilmontant [1954 1ST EDITION SOFTCOVER WITH DUST JACKET]

B. Arthaud, 1954. First Edition, First Printing. Paperback. B. Arthaud, Paris, 1954.Softcover in pictorial dust jacket, clear acetate dust jacket and yellow wrap-around band/obi. First Edition, First Printing. 96 pages (11 x 9 in./28 x 23 cm). Vol. II in the collection "Les Imaginaires". 93 gravure reproductions printed by Braun & Co. Photographs by Willy Ronis. Claud Arthaud, editor. Type design by Roger Excoffon. BOOK CONDITION: Good; clean and bright throughout, overopened throughout with 1 page loose (binding weak but holding together), in a Good Plus dust jacket with wear to extremities in a Very Good second dust jacket/acetate cover but lacking the yellow obi.

Before his death in 2009, Willy Ronis was one of the last of the surviving documentary photographers in the humanist tradition of Kertesz and Cartier-Bresson. During the 40s and 50s he was a prolific chronicler of many corners of French social life, especially the working people of Paris. He tended to wear his politics on his sleeve, often photographing strikes, demonstrations, occupations of factories and the like. For this reason, he also kept his distance from the American and British press. In this scarce volume, Pierre Mac Orlan offers his paean to the authenticity of these working class neighborhoods of Belleville-Menilmontant. Ronis discovered the area through Daniel Pipart, a painter and friend of his wife, who kept a studio there. He visited and photographed regularly from 1947-1950, with the aim of one day making a book from the images. Ronis's images, like countless Realist artists before him, aim to capture the poetry of the streets. Ever respectful of his subjects, Ronis's gaze is always affectionate and discrete. Unlike many documentary photographers, who search out freaks and weirdoes, Ronis seeks out the typical and the ordinary. Yet, beneath the surface, one senses a subtle sense of melancholy and muted nostalgia. A masterpiece of book design and typography! The images contained in Belleville-Menilmontant are certainly among Ronis's finest and provide an essential point of entry into his work. Included in M+M. Auer: 802 Photo Books. Near fine / near fine. Item #1308
ISBN: B01EXBINX2

Price: $100.00